What to Know About Dog Training: From Sit to Stay and Beyond
There is no better companion than a dog. But anybody who has ever had a dog knows that training them can be difficult in the beginning. While every dog is unique, there are some essential dog training tips and tricks that everybody should know.
Dog obedience training is built upon consistency, simplicity, and positive reinforcement for your dog. Here are some important things to consider!
Choosing Dog Training Collars
Dog training collars are often overlooked when it comes to dog obedience. However, choosing the right collar can actually be a very important early step. First and foremost, you want your dog to be comfortable. But you also want a collar that suits them and their particular training needs. For instance, a dog that is exceptionally skilled at breaking free from its leash might require a harness.
There’s also Get Joy’s X Whistle collar, a smart device designed specifically with your dog's health and well-being at the forefront. This smart collar can track your dog’s precise location, deliver health metrics, monitor food intake and digestive health, and even spot skin and allergy symptoms. The best part? All of this information is available to you on a smartphone app.
Tips for Effective Dog Obedience Training
Understanding Motivation
Understanding dog obedience training requires us to understand our dogs and their motivations. This can sometimes be tricky, as every dog has their own personality.
Some dogs are more food-motivated, while others are heavily motivated by praise, toys, or something else entirely. Figuring out what your dog’s strongest motivator is will make the training process much easier.
Keep It Short & Simple
Studies suggest that the best approach to dog training is short and simple sessions repeated multiple times. Your dog might quickly lose interest if you try to train them thoroughly over one prolonged session. Instead, it’s often more effective to train dogs in five-minute sessions.
You can repeat those training sessions a couple of times each day until the behavior is learned. It’s also recommended that you train your dog in multiple locations, as some dogs might only associate certain commands with the location they are trained in.
Communicating with Your Dog
Dogs are remarkably good at understanding human vocal cues. Unfortunately, this does not mean they grasp the full meaning of all our words. Dogs generally have a much easier time responding to our tone, body language, and hand gestures.
Hand signals can be a particularly useful tool when training a dog. Some dog trainers even recommend starting the training process only using hand signals, and then adding vocal commands later.
Get Joy Is Here to Help
Want to learn more about the keys to successful dog training? Get Joy is here to help. Read more about the essentials of dog training here, or check out our freeze-dried treats for a healthy and delicious snack for your dog’s training sessions. We also have supplements to boost your dog’s overall total wellness.
